Cry, the Beloved Country: Techniques and Purpose

Summary: Examines the novel Cry, the Beloved Country by South African writer Alan Paton. Describes Paton's use of perspective and reptition with variation to describe themes of fear and love, generational gaps and barriers, and how humans are connected to their surroundings.

Paton was one of South Africa's greatest writers, he wrote this book in 1948 before the apartheid laws were passed. His messages in this book were not understood and the racial segregation continued after. South Africa was divided between the European settlers and the native Africans. The whites dominated society and had more money although their population was so much smaller. In Cry, the Beloved Country, Paton uses perspective and repetition with variation to explain the themes of fear and love, generational gaps and barriers, and how humans are connected to setting,.

Alan Paton, uses the 2nd perspective to explain how humans are connected to setting. Paton uses Zulu and Afrikaans-based words to reflect the setting in the novel. In the first chapter, Alan Paton explains the deep valleys of South Africa, he explains a message of how men need the land to survive...